The Jacksonian

The Jacksonian is the name of a sad, seedy, fictional hotel in Jackson, Miss., that draws in lonely, desperate secret-holders down on their luck. It exists in 1964, in the South, and the sad sacks who gather at the Jacksonian—employees and guests alike—are feeling change in the air, but mostly they’re just caught up in their own webs of woes.

The Jacksonian is also the name of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley’s newest play, which is set in the Jacksonian Hotel, and revolves around a disintegrating marriage, drug-induced madness, murder and mayhem, and a depressed teenager reluctantly witnessing and commenting on dramas way beyond her years. Time jumps backward and forward, but everything and everyone revolves around a murder unveiled in the very beginning.

The Jacksonian is a violent, unsettling play that, while compelling and intriguing at times, unfortunately loses its way. Part of the problem lies in the jumpy and uneven storyline and characters, while the other problem is fluctuating tone and genres. It’s a Southern Gothic murder mystery—part film noir, part dark comedy, part social commentary, played for laughs, shock and drama, with some violence and racial references thrown in that feel gratuitous.

However, in the hands of a talented cast and careful direction, the B Street Theatre’s production of The Jacksonian does keep the audience engaged in the mystery, including who the murder victim might be, who would commit the murder and why—and how it affects all involved. B Street regulars bring their A-game to the play’s disjointed storyline and drama styles, including a heartfelt performance by Gina Hughes as a teenager wise beyond her years, Kurt Johnson as the unhinged dentist, Jamie Jones as his flighty wife, with Jason Kuykendall and Tara Sissom as the quirky hotel staff with their own secrets and desires that are never fully fleshed out.